The following is a guest post.Andrea Woroch is a consumer and money-saving expert who shows people how they can live on less without radically changing their lifestyles. From smart spending tips to personal finance advice, Andrea transforms everyday consumers into savvy shoppers. She has been featured among top news outlets such as NBC’s Today, Good Morning America, Dr. OZ, CNN, New York Times, Kiplinger Personal Finance, and many more. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook for daily savings posts.

1. Fail to Price Compare

Something called “dynamic pricing” is taking the online shopping world by storm. With revelations of price fluctuations over $100 on the same product, in the same day, it shouldn’t be ignored. If you fail to price compare, you may pay way more than you need to.

2. Pay for Shipping

You may not normally pay for delivery, but with the holidays so close you might have to, right? Wrong! You should never pay for shipping, especially with Free Shipping Day. Over 1,200 retailers will offer free shipping and delivery by Christmas Eve, enabling you to find great deals, dodge delivery fees and get everything to the recipient on time. Otherwise, look out for free expedited shipping offers from online stores trying to push goods and drives sales in the last minute.

3. Shop for Too Many

According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers will spend an average of $240 on friends, neighbors, coworkers and even pets. Note that number doesn’t include family. Be sure your shopping list is realistic for your budget, and determine less-costly ways to show you care. From home-baked treats to burned copies of favorite holiday tunes, there are plenty of inexpensive or completely free ways to remember other people in your life.

4. Forget the Coupon

Even the most diligent coupon clipper forgets these precious papers at home. Thankfully, digital helpers ensure you always have discounts in the palm of your hand. Available for free on both Android and Apple devices, this handy app features coupons to use at hundreds of stores and restaurants for easy savings.

5. Deviate From the List

Browsing easily turns to buying when you find the perfect gift for someone — even if you’ve already bought that person a present or if they’re not on your list. During the season of giving, it’s common to feel generous toward every single person in your life (unless you’re scrooge), but it’s best to stick to your list for the sake of your budget. Remember the gift idea for another event, like the person’s birthday. I like to track my gift list and my spending using the Holiday Gift List app. Otherwise, I may completely forget my aunt but triple up on gifts for my sister!

6. Self-Gift Overboard

The same National Retail Federation survey referenced above points to plenty of self generosity, too. Consumers will spend $140 on gifts for themselves this year, amounting to 30-percent more than just eight years ago. The quickest way to suffer a holiday-debt hangover is to spend too much on yourself. Avoid the temptation and let the self-gifting begin after the new year, when your wallet is brimming with gift cards.

7. Spending to Save

Have you ever heard the term “spaving?” It refers to the practice of “spending just to save,” or buying an item because it seems like a great deal. Even if a product is marked down 50-percent, you’re still overspending if you never intended to buy it in the first place. So next time you pass a retailer with red sale signs in the store windows boasting 40, 50 or even 60% off, just keeping walking!

I’d never heard of it before too. It is funny that people use saving as an excuse to spend. They don’t stop to think of the irony of that. Hmmm, maybe it’d be better to just not spend on some of those things.

And sometimes it’s something they don’t even truly need. They just see how good a deal it is and feel that they can’t pass it up. They don’t think that they are buying something they don’t need. Instead they just think about how much they are ‘saving’.

Try being a Canadian. We almost never qualify for free shipping while all kinds of online retailers offer free US shipping. Still, the online prices with shipping included is often still cheaper than from a store.

It’s especially disturbing when they are doing this and stockpiling something they already own and will never need another one of. My friend’s mom would hoard away all kinds of stuff just because it was on for a good price. Like how many can openers and toasters do you really need in the garage?

It’s so easy to buy on impulse and overspend this holiday season with all the deals retailers are offering. I like the idea of Secret Santa too–this way you only have to buy 1 gift and you can make it meaningful without blowing your budget!

For sure, secret Santa makes it a lot more affordable. That works out well unless you get stuck getting a gift from someone who just can’t seem to choose good gifts. Or you can do the white elephant gift exchange and turn it into a fun game.

Shopping for too many is what I feel I end up doing every year. I’d like to buy for just my immediate family but social pressures always make me cave to buy for more people I see on Christmas. I can afford it though so it isn’t a huge deal.

I used to have that problem with big Christmas gatherings. You’d feel obligated to buy everyone a gift. Now that the Christmas gatherings are a little smaller, the price has come down a lot. Somehow I manage to balance that out by spending more on each person.

If you find yourself adding more people to your holiday shopping list, consider picking up inexpensive holiday decor like ornaments that are on sale right now. The small token gift is a perfect present that doesn’t cost a lot and still shows you thought of that person.

Spaving, I love that word. Kind of like spork. I think everyone should try to get shopping done well before mid December. It takes some planning, but you are absolutely right that you will spend more if you wait until the last minute.

I took that approach this year and it was so much less stressful. Other years I’d get stuck running around the mall last minute unsure of what to buy. It sure doesn’t make it easier to deal with all the crowds. This year I shopped early and ended up also having the option of buying some gifts online. Pretty tough to do that at the last minute.

I never manage to have a complete list beforehand. There is always someone who I don’t know what to buy. Then there are people who I end up getting more than one gift because I know they’ll love both. If I do buy them more than one thing, I try not to let the price go overboard.

I’m so terrible when it comes to using coupons for something that looks like a perfect gift and I’m in a rush to just buy buy buy! Do you have any suggestions for cool coupon websites that are not mobile apps? Some of us don’t have these “Android” or “Apple” device thingies you’re referring to 🙂 Hehe.

Unfortunately you have to be pretty organized to be able to take advantage of coupons a this time of year, especially without a smart phone. I’d just focus on trying to buy gifts online and if their checkout asks for a coupon, start scouring the web. I can relate to just wanting to pull the trigger on a present when you find something perfect. It’s just so much easier to mark that person off your list.

Good tips, we do a lot of photo gifts of our kids as gifts, especially for the grandparents and great grandparents. Very inexpensive gifts but they have been some of the most memorable for the recipients They are also very easy to put together last minute if need be.

That is one extra benefit of having kids. Everyone always wants updated photos of them. They likely realize that you’re already spending a lot on Christmas and would gladly accept an inexpensive photo as their gift.

I did that one year, but I don’t think I have the time or creativity to pull it off every year. If you do have those kinds of skills, you should definitely be trying to make people’s presents. Some years I have also given people baked goods, but I realized I was eating most of them myself lol.

Many people fall into these traps and it can cause New Year’s problems when the bills start rolling in. We start to question whether we bought enough, or find something to add that is on sale or that they might like. In our case the “gag gift” got added last minute which was not in our Christmas budget. Mr.CBB

I just avoid the malls completely after my list is complete. Then there is so little chance of me finding something to add on. When I do go to the mall it is usually very purposeful with minimal browsing.

Good point about ending up buying something grand without a list. I’ve had that problem before. I get caught browsing unsure of what to buy someone. Then when I do find something suitable it’s more than I had been planning on spending. Since I dislike shopping so much, I’d usually just end up buying that gift just so that I could go home.

That is so true. It’s not many women shopping at the mall last minute like that. I guess lots of them like the malls and shopping enough to go early. It is interesting to see how different the shopping crowd is during this time of year. You can totally tell that many of them don’t step foot in a mall until the Christmas season.

Because we’ve bought and wrapped everything (and had done by the start of December) everything is now already paid for – and because we have nothing on our credit cards right now I am tempted to go out and get more stuff because I can afford it.

I’d say that is a good problem to have. I’ve never been one to rack up credit cards for Christmas shopping. I’d always have enough to pay any charges off that month. So I don’t think I’d ever have the temptation to buy more based on what my card balance is.

Spaving? Just heart of it from your post. But it’s very true. How did you save (even at 50% less the price) if you don’t have a need for the item? Beats the logic, huh? Your advice to keep walking is the most intelligent decision a shopper can make.

The ironic part is that they will then go and brag to their friends about how much they spaved. A good deal is only truly good if you really need the item. If it’s something unnecessary, you’ve just gone and blown some money, even if it was on sale.

Considering who that stat came from, I have a feeling that they inflated those numbers. It’s in their best interest to make people think that they should be spending that much. Maybe they specifically asked people in an expensive shopping district or mall. I highly doubt that is really the average of all consumers.I definitely don’t plan on spending that much on people not related to me.

I think i’ve been guilty of all of the above at least once before. The main reason I don’t coupon is ‘spaving’ lol. 99% of the coupons we receive are for products I wouldn’t normally buy/use yet time and time again I find myself at the store with a product in hand b/c I have a coupon! I’m better now and totally recognize this so avoid it but I’ve been guilty for sure.

I’ve given up on most coupons for this reason. There’s not much point in using coupons if it’s not something you really need. Sometimes it’s better to just stick with what you do need and leave the coupons at home. I still glance at the coupons occasionally but I rarely find one worth using. That’s probably because of the coupon structure here in Canada though.